KERRY KATONA, celebrity mum and former Atomic Kitten, may be the public face of Iceland but the frozen-foods retailer is very much the child of Malcolm Walker, the man who founded it in 1970.

Walker’s icy empire of 724 stores is about to get bigger. He plans to open 70-plus stores this year — 51 of them former Woolworths sites — creating more than 3,500 jobs. He also intends to snap up more former Woolies stores so he can open 25 more shops next year.

Runcorn-based Iceland, whose shops will stock OK! magazine from August, is one of the winners in the credit crunch. Frozen food is selling like hot cakes as shoppers go bargain-hunting. Sales climbed 16 per cent in the year to the end of March, breaching the £2 billion barrier for the first time. Like-for-like sales were also up 16 per cent — the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth — while profit before tax and other charges climbed 36 per cent from £120 million to £163 million. “There has been a flight to value,” Walker explains. The number of customers has increased, as well as the average spend.

The company is having such a good year that Walker is treating senior staff to a trip to Disneyland in Florida. He says: “It is an investment.” However, Iceland, which took over rival Bejam in 1989, was doing well before the recession. Walker — advised to go into retailing because he liked organising things — puts its success down to “focus, simplicity and reality”. He is also good at spotting trends, moving into the market for ready meals in the early Eighties. Two words pepper his conversation — pride and morale. He believes in morale-boosting exercises for staff such as trips overseas, parties at his estate and roles in Iceland’s adverts. The strategy appears to pay off: Iceland was recently voted one of the top 20 best big companies to work for. Walker says: “It is like working for a big family.”

The company is unique to the UK. Walker doesn’t know of any other retailers which specialise in frozen food. Iceland’s brief foray into France flopped, although an unofficial franchise in Spain is thriving. He hints at more interest in the Iceland model from overseas but won’t be drawn.

In the UK only three shops have failed, all in upmarket areas — Walker says anyone who doesn’t understand Iceland’s no-frills offering is a snob and “shops at Waitrose”. He says Katona is still a hit with target customers despite her well-publicised problems.

Walker has no plans to change a winning formula, and with good reason: Sales of frozen foods industrywide are set to go through £5 billion this year.

In the past he has been burnt by experimenting. In 2000 Iceland attempted to diversify when it made a recommended offer for Booker, the UK’s largest cash-and-carry operator. Booker’s top manager Stuart Rose was named chief executive of the enlarged group, while Walker was scheduled for non-executive chairman. But Rose left to head Arcadia; Walker brought in a new chief executive who ousted him. The combined Iceland-Booker business — renamed The Big Food Group — struggled despite a grandiose recovery plan.

In February 2005 The Big Food Group’s shareholders accepted a recommended offer from Icelandic investor Baugur, which returned Walker to the helm. Since then, the company has returned to growth.

It remains a private company although these days it is majority owned by state-backed Icelandic bank Landsbanki following the collapse of Baugur.

Walker, who owns a stake with two other Iceland managers, has no plans to change the company’s private status after the ups and downs when it was a public company from 1984 to 2005.

He also has no plans to retire despite having been involved in the business for nearly 40 years. “I’m enjoying myself too much,” says the young-looking 63-year-old.

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